Previous Down Under Politician Jailed for Above Half a Decade for Sex Crimes
A former public official found guilty of assaulting two individuals encountered via his position has been sentenced to nearly six years in jail.
Trial Information
The former official, 44, was in jail since last summer after the court determined his guilt of sexually assaulting a victim and attacking another individual, in separate incidents in over two years.
The defendant acted for the coastal town of the regional area in the NSW legislature from the year 2011. He stepped down as a Liberal Party minister when the claims emerged in 2021 but declined to leave parliament and won again in 2023.
Judgment Information
Justice the judicial figure considered his visual impairment of vision impairment in the ruling and determined "no alternative punishment besides detention is appropriate".
Ward, who participated via video-link at the courthouse, will serve at no less than nearly four years in prison before he can seek parole.
Justice Shead declared the court needs to "deliver a strong warning to similar individuals that illegal behaviors of this nature will be faced with significant consequences".
Case Background
She also said the convicted man had "escaped justice for ten years and lived freely absent a programme or punishment for his crimes during that period".
After his conviction, the individual launched a rejected court challenge to continue in his position and left office moments before the members could expel him.
His legal team has stated earlier he aims to challenge the guilty verdict.
Case Facts
The defendant's nine-week trial in the judicial venue heard that he asked a drunk young adult to his residence in 2013 and sexually abused him three times, despite resistance attempts to oppose.
In 2015, he attacked a young office worker at his residence after a function at government offices.
The defendant had argued the 2015 rape never occurred, and that the other complainant was misremembering their interaction from the first incident.
The state's attorneys argued that significant resemblances in the accounts of the victims, who did not know the other, demonstrated they were accurate in their accounts.
Court members debated for multiple days before returning the convictions.
Ward's resignation caused a by-election in his constituency in last fall, which was secured by the challenger.
